Fremont in photos: Walk a few blocks past the hub of Downtown development, past Container Park; the new, old Atomic Liquors; and the Bunkhouse, preparing to reopen in August, and you’ll find a neighborhood largely untouched by all the buzz up the street.

Stomach issues, brutal blisters, 20-hour runs where your mind plays tricks and the only guarantee is that it’s going to hurt. Why would anyone endure that kind of physical and mental torture—let alone sign up for it?